Where to find: .38 SPL 148/158gr WC/SWC ammo?

[DadSmith]

I remember some of the cast 148 WC bullets were hollow base. I remember guys putting them in with the hollow pointing out, claiming they would mushroom. I never tried it or tested it on a hunk of meat. Did you ever try that?

You talking about this made me remember this video

 

[indiucky]

I’m so old I remember buying wad cutters for $4-5 /50 to just punch paper with, reloads were $2/box.

I remember those reloads lol....I think pink and green were the ink colors on the box...they were reloaded somewhere up around Indy iirc..."Starline"???? "Starfire"???? reloads.....something like that....They were $2 a box at the Clark County Gun Range in about 1983-84....

 

[CB1911]

Lucky Gunner and Precision Delta have what you are looking for. It's all pricey. Target Sports USA is also a good option to look at.

 

[Colt556]

I remember those reloads lol....I think pink and green were the ink colors on the box...they were reloaded somewhere up around Indy iirc..."Starline"???? "Starfire"???? reloads.....something like that....They were $2 a box at the Clark County Gun Range in about 1983-84....

The ones I remember were in generic white boxes with blue ink lettering, some might have been red. I think it was Starline or close to that. I know that there were some hollow based wad cutters that were loaded backwards as a self defense round and were popular for snubbies.

 

[indiucky]

The ones I remember were in generic white boxes with blue ink lettering, some might have been red. I think it was Starline or close to that. I know that there were some hollow based wad cutters that were loaded backwards as a self defense round and were popular for snubbies.

That's them...the red would fade to pink....they were in every gun shop in southern Indiana back in the 1980s....when I had the shop open a box of them came in and I think I stashed them somewhere for old time sake lol....

 

[92FSTech]

I remember those reloads lol....I think pink and green were the ink colors on the box...they were reloaded somewhere up around Indy iirc..."Starline"???? "Starfire"???? reloads.....something like that....They were $2 a box at the Clark County Gun Range in about 1983-84....

Star Reloads. White box with redish-purple lettering, IIRC. My buddy still has some of those .38s from back when his dad and grandpa owned a gun shop. They're pretty horrible. Filthy, and inconsistent.

One of my other buddies, who recently retired, blames them for failing his first round of pistol quals at the academy back in the late 80s. He said they were horribly inconsistent....You'd have a "BANG" and the next one would be a "Pop". They qualified out to the 50 yard line back then, and the velocity difference between each round was so bad that keeping the same point of aim some would hit the ground in front of the target, and the next one would fly over the top. He said he had to re-shoot, but used some different ammo and passed no problem. I'd be tempted to call it an old cop story, but he's a VERY good shooter and knows his stuff, and really had no reason to make it up. Plus I've seen my other buddy shoot the ones he's got, and while it wasn't at 50 yards, from what I witnessed close up I can only imagine how bad they'd be at 50.

I can't speak to the inverted wadcutters...the ones my buddy has are seated normally. For me, the appeal of a wadcutter is a flat meplat cutting a clean hole without easily deflecting for deep penetration. If I wanted an expanding bullet I'd source some kind of JHP.

 

[indiucky]

Star Reloads. White box with redish-purple lettering, IIRC. My buddy still has some of those .38s from back when his dad and grandpa owned a gun shop. They're pretty horrible. Filthy, and inconsistent.

One of my other buddies, who recently retired, blames them for failing his first round of pistol quals at the academy back in the late 80s. He said they were horribly inconsistent....You'd have a "BANG" and the next one would be a "Pop". They qualified out to the 50 yard line back then, and the velocity difference between each round was so bad that keeping the same point of aim some would hit the ground in front of the target, and the next one would fly over the top. He said he had to re-shoot, but used some different ammo and passed no problem. I'd be tempted to call it an old cop story, but he's a VERY good shooter and knows his stuff, and really had no reason to make it up. Plus I've seen my other buddy shoot the ones he's got, and while it wasn't at 50 yards, from what I witnessed close up I can only imagine how bad they'd be at 50.

I can't speak to the inverted wadcutters...the ones my buddy has are seated normally. For me, the appeal of a wadcutter is a flat meplat cutting a clean hole without easily deflecting for deep penetration. If I wanted an expanding bullet I'd source some kind of JHP.

This is them...I KNEW it was pink lol....

 

[92FSTech]

Yep, that's the ones!

 

[Ziggidy]

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